In the True Spirit of Halloween…

I am about to commit an act of unspeakable evil. But since I admitted it ahead of time you have to forgive me!!!
A REPOST!
I am sure this is breaking the cardinal rule of blogging, but in my defense, when I first posted it a year ago, NO ONE and I mean not a single soul [...]

New release of a brilliant movie

One of my favorite writers and directors, Sembène Ousmane, about whom I have previously posted when he passed away last year, directed a movie called “Camp de Thiaroye” which is coming out on DVD on November 11th.  I am so excited that I even pre-ordered it.
Normally I wouldn’t shamelessly plug something, I’m a fairly mellow [...]

Taking a ride downtown

Let me preface this post by saying, if your community has a police ride-along program, you should RUN not walk to the police station and sign up.  It is must-see tv up close and personal.
I was worried that the officer would find my presence annoying, but he said that he enjoys the company, and by [...]

No future for nostalgia?

A couple of years ago I wasn’t in touch with anyone from my past.  Not because I’d burned any bridges, not because there wasn’t anyone dear.  Just lost touch, moved away, got lazy, whatever.
Then when we left Oregon for North Carolina I got on Facebook and found a few people from the recent past.  But [...]

Folly in Polly-ticking

The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.
  - Paul Valery
I thought this quote was appropriate for the present climate of election frenzy which threatens to choke the life out of [...]

Team loyalty

I feel that there’s something slightly slutty about shifting the weight of one’s team affiliation, or rooting for more than one team, so I have come here today to attempt to explain my NFL team preferences and hope that I emerge with some shred of integrity generated by the rationality and/or sheer passion of my [...]

My obsessions

You have to imagine the groovy twangy beat of that Stevie Wonder song from 1972, “Superstition,” playing in the background as you read this, because as soon as I read the word “obsession” this morning and realized I’d been tagged on http://stacybuckeye.wordpress.com/  my brain remixed the song to reflect this topic.
“Here is my obsession… BOW-bowp-bowp-BOW-buh-bowp-bowp…”
Problem is, you [...]

Driving impaired

A group of us “drove drunk” last night.
At our Citizens Police Academy last night, we got to put on “drunk” goggles, get behind the wheel of a converted golf cart (used as a “metermaid” vehicle in its other life) and attempt to drive through a course of cones set up in the police department parking [...]

Family crisis

What is this world coming to?
Have you heard about the Nebraska law that has inspired parents to abandon their children at hospitals?  I have been following this story for a while now, and in every article about it you read that someone or other says, “Gosh, we need to close the loopholes in this law that was [...]

Understanding

“I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”
  - Robert McCloskey
I think this convoluted quote is the essence of what I find so fascinating about words, language, communication in all its many forms, from a [...]

“Life is a Shipwreck”

“Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” –Voltaire
Just a brief reminder… it’s not all going to work out all the time.  We’re all doing our best to stay afloat, navigating as best we can the often treacherous sea of life, and sometimes as we attempt to sail to [...]

Class update

The two students who showed up were great, but unfortunately they were also at opposite ends of the language experience spectrum.  So I need to split them into two groups… two groups of one!
My problem is I’m a hard worker, a good idea generator, a good teacher, good at communicating in three languages, but I [...]